In brief
Seven trekkers and a guide disappeared after an avalanche struck the Kedartal area of northern Uttarakhand on Oct. 29, leaving them missing for six days. A ten‑person Mountain Rescue Team was air‑lifted to the valley but had to suspend operations amid rough weather, with a resumption scheduled for the next day. Three porters and a cook were rescued three days earlier, giving a small relief to locals.
In the Kedartal region of Uttarakhand, seven trekkers and a guide have gone missing for six days after an avalanche struck the area on Oct. 29. The incident, confirmed by a local official, has left the group unaccounted for despite the last contact with their trekking agency on the day of the avalanche.
According to Xinhua, the trek was planned to last three days, having begun on Oct. 27. Heavy snowfall triggered the avalanche that left the travellers stranded, according to media reports.
Times of India identified the missing trekkers as Tapas Bauri, Ratan Ghosh, Manoj Khovas, Rintu Mandal, Uday Ghosh, Deepika Verma and Vartika. The missing guide was also named, though the available sources do not list her name.
The rescue effort began with the deployment of a ten‑person Mountain Rescue Team on Monday. The team comprised six officers from the State Disaster Response Force and four specialists from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. They were air‑lifted into the Kedartal valley to search for the missing group.
Despite this mobilisation, the search had to be halted by Monday evening due to extremely rough weather conditions. Xinhua reports that the operation was cancelled for the day, with plans to resume the following day.
Local media noted that three porters and a cook had already been rescued three days prior to the cancellation of the search. Their extraction provided a brief relief to the overall effort.
Officials say the Mountain Rescue Team is scheduled to return on Tuesday, when weather conditions are expected to improve. The resumption of the search is contingent on meteorological assessments, which have shown sporadic clearing but still predict a high likelihood of snowfall and low visibility.
The situation remains precarious, as the missing group could still be trapped in crevasses or buried under avalanche debris. The authorities continue to monitor conditions and are hoping for safe recoveries once operations can safely recommence.
